Butler trends in Dubai

Butler trends in Dubai

With the popularity of Downton Abbey bringing the traditional image of domestic staff back into the public consciousness, Sara Vestin Rahmani, director and founder of London’s Bespoke Bureau British Butler and Housekeeper Academy, has seen a huge rise in demand, especially in the Middle East. In this article we discuss butler trends in Dubai and the middle east.

Last year the middle eastern butler agency placed 430 British-trained butlers around the world – a 100 percent increase on the previous year, and four times as many as three years ago.

The butler agency has also seen demand from five-star hotels in the Gulf. ‘The hotels come to us and ask us to train their household staff or have their staff British butler trained.’ So in demand are these services, the butler agency management now spends nearly half the year shuttling to Dubai to meet clients.

The Butler trends in Dubai are similar to that of the butler hire demand in Saudi and other middle eastern affluent countries.

‘We have a waiting list from private houses and hotels in the Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Competition seems to be getting harder for most industries in Dubai apart from ours.’

Butler trends in Dubai make the butlers rich

Some of the Bespoke Bureau butlers in Dubai get paid crazy high salaries. ‘The butler in Dubai can also get the following: apartment, car, mobile, lots of holiday and also bonuses,’ says Sara. ‘One butler with us inherited his boss’s fortune when he died. He served him for nine years and got the lot.’

Another Dubai-based butler from the butler agency in Dubai had high opinions of his employers. ‘I have been honoured and touched by the humanity and kindness of extremely powerful people, including royalty, heads of state and billionaire business people responsible for the livelihoods of thousands of employees and interests of investors.’

The butler agency also operates as a nanny agency in Dubai. Sara, who has noticed huge growing Butler trends in Dubai has also placed Mary Poppins-style governesses in Dubai, and this was how she first got into the industry. ‘I decided there was a gap in the market for good au-pairs and nannies and set up Peek-a-boo from my living room. I then started the Bespoke Bureau ten years ago and this year we set up the Exclusive Yacht Training School in Antibes [on the French Riviera] as well as in London.’

Sara’s clients now include 15 of the top 50 richest individuals in the world, but when we push for names she reverts back to the top three traits that are so fundamental to the butler and governess service: discretion, discretion and discretion.